Events and meaning

I love special days, and the opportunity they present to teach. Obviously this coming Monday is one of those days. There are two respects in which I think doing so is challenging.

1. One must have integrity in ascribing meaning to the events. For example, in the chapel at Princeton University hangs a plaque to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. praising his vision of tolerance and pluralism. (I searched online without success to see if I could find the exact text, so I'll rely on someone on campus to find the precise language.) What struck me when I first saw the plaque was that it did not honor Dr. King on his own terms. It praised the values that those who commissioned the plaque embraced, and (in my estimation) not the core commitments of Dr. King. When we teach our children, our representation of the meaning of events must have integrity. The story must be told on its own terms, and when we offer our interpretation of those persons or events, it must be clear that they are our interpretations, and why we interpret things as we do.
   
2. One must have an epistemology that allows for meaning. When we remember September 11, 2001, or Hurricane Katrina, the questions quickly arise: Do we attribute meaning to these kinds of events? Can there be meaning in the acts of terrorists, or in natural disasters?
   As Christians, we can see that there is tremendous Scriptural precedent for ascribing meaning to calamity and natural disasters. Daniel does it in his confession in Daniel 9, as does Ezra in Ezra 9, and it is the repeated refrain of the prophets: because of our sins, these things have happened. Yet there is also good Scriptural reason for not jumping to conclusions. Jesus, when asked about those whose blood Pilate mixed with his sacrifices, and others on whom the tower of Siloam fell, answered this way:
   

   Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:2-5)
   

   The meaning that Jesus implied was not particular judgment, but a call to repentance.
   

There is no abdication of teaching our children. If I am silent about the meaning of September 11, I am implicitly saying that it does not have meaning as judgment or a call to repentance; it is simply a day that we remember. If I say nothing of God being sovereign over earthquakes and hurricanes, I will be (perhaps unconsciously) teaching Elisabeth that God is not sovereign over these things. If I tell only part of the story of Martin Luther King Jr., I pretend that truth doesn't matter, or worse yet that I get to define my own truth.

I don't expect what I have just stated to be either embraced or respected by those who don't know Christ, because what I am suggesting truly is nonsense to the modern scientific worldview - that there is meaning and intention behind events of nature, and meaning greater than that intended by rulers or terrorists. Yet I think it is in the public statement of these things that the mystery, and foolishness, of the Gospel is again presented to the world.